I have been messing around with software to create websites and such, and i was wondering if there was any way to put a chat box or chat toolbar where you could talk to the members online and get to know people better and easier then sending mail back and forth. any ideas?

I guess you mean like facebook chat but on here. Sounds like a good idea, I mean it would allow people to IM without giving out their e-mail address.

I'm not sure that it would be very useful at iSketch Forum to be honest, as most people don't visit this forum for very long periods at a time. A few of us used to use tinychat quite often, as it keeps personal contacts minimal (you can sign in by simply selecting a nickname) and has other functions, such as voice chat and YouTube video embedding.

I don't want to put you off at all, it is a nice idea after all. Perhaps for this forum it may not so useful, but you could put your idea forward to vBulletin, the guys and girls who make this style of forum. That way it may earn a more global audience :)

We've had member chats from time to time, usually when there are long isketch server downtime like back in october 2006, but it's always been on a 3rd party website.

vBulletin, the forum's platform, has a few chat add-ons that the admin could integrate, so we'd need to ask Peter or Ches. But if you want to promote a chat site that is exclusive to members, go for it, sounds like a good idea.

I think a facebook style chat toolbar on iSketch itself instead of PM's would be rad. It can get very confusing with it all muddled up in the chat window! Eheh.

As for something like that on the forum, I'm not sure. As db said, not many people log on long enough for it to really work. But heck, it'd be cool if it did. Maybe it could be an incentive for people to actually log on more often!

I think a facebook style chat toolbar on iSketch itself instead of PM's would be rad. It can get very confusing with it all muddled up in the chat window! Eheh.

There is no such thing as personal messages because admin can access these messages and it'll be much easier for them to read them in the current format.

Both public chat and "private" chat enter the same box therefore it just involves a simple admin command to view all messages within that chat box without it being censored. Maybe they should put a small-print on the instructions page about this messaging feature.

Does iSketch believe it has a right to read into conversations which its users believe are personal? If so, why not make it clear on the instructions page or did Rob think an admin wouldn't let slip this information to a few regular users?

There is no such thing as personal messages because admin can access these messages and it'll be much easier for them to read them in the current format.

Both public chat and "private" chat enter the same box therefore it just involves a simple admin command to view all messages within that chat box without it being censored. Maybe they should put a small-print on the instructions page about this messaging feature.

Interesting thoughts, but I really don't think admins can see private messages between people, whether by using some sort of command or in real-time. You cannot really say that this is possible by use of a "simple admin command" or otherwise without any official proof from Feedback or from Rob. Yes these PMs are placed in the same box as public chat, but think about all the PM information that there can be. I've seen up to 1200 players online at busy times, and if everything was viewable and available to admins in real-time, the server would have to work a lot harder.

As far as I'm aware, the only people who can see these PMs are the two people who are engaging in private messaging. Only if screenshots or copies of the text windows are sent to the admins are they able to view the private conversation.

Does iSketch believe it has a right to read into conversations which its users believe are personal? If so, why not make it clear on the instructions page or did Rob think an admin wouldn't let slip this information to a few regular users?

I don't think anyone has the right to read private messages if they are not addressed to themselves or without consent. If admins were able to view private conversations, I imagine any relevant information about any admin ability of reading PMs would already be displayed in the rules.

As this forum is unofficial, I would recommend that you ask Feedback, or Rob himself if you catch him online. They are the official iSketch people :)